Ravens in no hurry to trade Troy Smith

In late December, the agent for former OSU and current Baltimore Ravens quarterback Troy Smith tweeted that Smith was going to request a trade in the offseason.

Yesterday at the NFL Combine, Ravens coach John Harbaugh addressed Smith's future. He definitely played it politically, and was right down the middle.

"I see him still with the team. Troy Smith is a Raven," said Harbaugh, a native of Crestline, Ohio. "Having been in Ohio, my father (Jack) got inducted into the Crawford County Hall of Fame along with Mike Gottfried and some other great guys, I was flipping channels and I saw Troy. He was in Columbus and they were interviewing him about this very thing. He said it best. He said, ‘I’m a Raven.’

"I think he’s really a good quarterback. I think Troy can play quarterback in this league as a starter. That’s why we like him as our backup because at some point in time we’re going to need a guy to win two, three, four games for us if Joe gets hurt.

"Although at the same time, I think we understand Troy’s desire to be a starter. If something would work out where it’s beneficial to the Ravens from our perspective and it gives him a chance to do that down the road somewhere, then we’re interested in doing that.

"But Troy is our backup quarterback at this point and I don’t think we’re going to change that unless it benefits our football team.”

My translation: Harbaugh doesn't want to tick off Smith in case he stays with the team, and he doesn't want to sound as if he's going to give in to trade demands. But you have to believe that with Flacco entrenched, if a team wants to give Baltimore a mid-round draft pick for Smith, they'd seriously consider it.